Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It has offices in Long Beach, California, United States, and Seoul, South Korea. The organization rescues refugees hiding in China and resettles them in South Korea or the United States, so that they can avoid being forcibly repatriated back to North Korea, where they can face harsh punishments. The refugees first travel from China to Southeast Asia through what the organization calls an "Underground Railroad", and then on to South Korea where they are recognized as refugees.
The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be among the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations and groups such as Human Rights Watch having condemned it. Amnesty International considers North Korea to have no contemporary parallel with respect to violations of liberty.
Kang Chol-hwan is a North Korean defector, author, and the founder and president of the North Korea Strategy Center.
People defect from North Korea for political, material, and personal reasons. Defectors flee to various countries, mainly South Korea. In South Korea, they are referred to by several terms, including "northern refugees" and "new settlers".
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, who was the second supreme leader of North Korea, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country.
Children of the Secret State is a documentary film about homeless North Korean orphans, released in 2000. It was shot by a UK film duo in conjunction with underground North Korean cameramen.
Jang Song-thaek was a North Korean politician. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean premier Kim Il Sung and his first wife Kim Jong-suk, and only sister of North Korean general secretary Kim Jong Il. He was therefore the uncle of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.
Durihana North Korea Mission is a defector aid Christian organization based in South Korea, founded by Pastor Chun Ki-won. The organization assists North Korean defectors escape from North Korea and China, often by helping refugees to pay their "brokers" fee, which allows them to cross borders. The group also provides migrants with temporary hideouts and helps them move to more secure areas. Durihana has been recognized as one of the main South Korean NGOs involved in aiding North Korean defectors in China.
On March 17, 2009, North Korean soldiers detained two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were working for the U.S.-based independent television station Current TV, after they crossed into North Korea from China without a visa. They were found guilty of illegal entry and sentenced to twelve years' hard labor in June 2009. The North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the two on August 5, 2009, the day after the former U.S. president Bill Clinton arrived in the country on a publicly unannounced visit.
Robert Park is a Korean-American missionary, musician, and human rights activist. A peace advocate and supporter of Korean reunification, he is a founding member of the nonpartisan Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea and a frequent columnist for South Korea's largest English newspaper, The Korea Herald. In December 2009 he was detained in North Korea for illegal entry after crossing the Sino-Korean border on Christmas Day to protest against the country's human rights situation. He was released in February 2010 after being detained for 43 days. He reported having suffered torture during his detention.
An Hyuk is a North Korean defector.
Prisons in North Korea have conditions that are unsanitary, life-threatening and are comparable to historical concentration camps. A significant number of inmates have died each year, since they are subject to torture and inhumane treatment. Public and secret executions of inmates, including children, especially in cases of attempted escape, are commonplace. Infanticides also often occur. The mortality rate is exceptionally high, because many prisoners die of starvation, illnesses, work accidents, or torture.
Human trafficking in North Korea extends to men, women, and children for the purpose of forced labour, and/or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker.
After the Korean War, 333 South Korean people detained in North Korea as prisoners of war chose to stay in North Korea. During subsequent decades of the Cold War, some people of South Korean origin defected to North Korea as well. They include Roy Chung, a former U.S. Army soldier who defected to North Korea through East Germany in 1979. Aside from defection, North Korea has been accused of abduction in the disappearances of some South Koreans.
Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, is a Korean-American professor who was detained in North Korea for 382 days. On May 9, 2018, it was reported that Kim was released from custody.
Oh Chong-song, also spelled Oh Chung-sung, is a North Korean defector. Oh is one of several defectors who have defected to South Korea via the Joint Security Area (JSA). Prior to his defection, Oh was an industrial engineer. South Korean investigators concluded Oh "impulsively" defected.
The COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea was part of an global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). North Korea confirmed its first case on 8 May 2022.
Events of 2020 in North Korea.
Many North Korean women fall victim to human trafficking upon migrating to the neighboring country of China. North Korea's discrimination of women in the workforce, the traditional familial view of women as a burden, and the region's ever-increasing poverty serve as factors that motivate them to migrate to their neighboring country to find a better life. China's one-child policy decreased the amount of women in the country, growing the demand for trafficked sex workers and brides. As of 2020, an estimated 80% of North Korean defectors were women, 60% of whom were sold in China's extensive human trafficking network. Women and girls who are trafficked are bought by cybersex brokers, sold into marriage, and forced into prostitution. As of 2023, there are up to 500,000 such women and girls in China's northern provinces of Jilin, Liaoning, and Heilongjiang, where human trafficking industry exploded, reaching $105 million per year. North Korea's punishments for defectors and China's lack of legal protection for North Korean refugees force women to withstand abuse to avoid facing deportation.
